During its 2014 session, the Maine Legislature enacted an Act to Support Solar Energy Development in Maine.  P.L Chapter 562 (April 24, 2014) (codified at 35‐A M.R.S. §§ 3471‐3473) (“Act”).  Section 1 of the Act contains the Legislative finding that it is in the public interest is to develop renewable energy resources, including solar energy, in a manner that protects and improves the health and well‐being of the citizens and natural environment of the State while also providing economic benefits to communities, ratepayers and the overall economy of the State.  

Section 2 of the Act requires the Public Utilities Commission (Commission) to determine the value of distributed solar energy generation in the State, evaluate implementation options, and to deliver a report to the Legislature. To support this work, the Commission engaged a project team comprising Clean Power Research (Napa, California), Sustainable Energy Advantage (Framingham, Massachusetts), Pace Energy and Climate Center at the Pace Law School (White Plains, New York), and Dr. Richard Perez (Albany, New York).

Under the project, the team developed the methodology under a Commission‐run stakeholder review process, conducted a valuation on distributed solar for three utility territories, and developed a summary of implementation options for increasing deployment of distributed solar generation in the State.